Friday, March 19, 2010

Federal Workers Owe $1B in Back Taxes

According to an ABC News report, about 100,000 federal employees owe an estimated $1 million in unpaid back taxes. In an effort to recoup some of this revenue, Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah introduced a new bill that would require those federal workers to pay off their tax debts or lose their jobs.

"If you get to the point where the government is putting a lien on their property and they've exhausted their appeals ... the right thing to do is fire them as a federal worker," he told ABC. "If you're going to take federal tax dollars, you should be paying your federal taxes."

Of the 2.8 million federal employees throughout the country, more than 3 percent owed unpaid taxes in 2008, according to the IRS. And that's not including retired workers or military service members. Factor them in and the numbers spike to around 276,000 current or former workers owing roughly $3 billion, according to the report.

Chaffetz says his bill mirrors efforts by the Obama administration to end federal contracts with companies that owe taxes, which the president directed federal agencies to do in January.